Interlake communities evacuated, Brokenhead residents threatened by wildfires By: Nicole Buffie Posted: 10:37 AM CDT Monday, May. 12, 2025 Last Modified: 4:26 PM CDT Monday, May. 12, 2025 Updates

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This article was published 12/05/2025 (454 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Communities northeast of Selkirk and Lac du Bonnet have been evacuated owing to a series of growing wildfires.

A rapidly spreading fire across the Netley-Libau Marsh, likely sparked by lightning, threatened several residents Monday afternoon in Brokenhead Ojibway Nation.

A voluntary evacuation from Brokenhead’s Lynx Lane and Anishinaabe Way streets was issued in the community at about midday. Four residents were evacuated from their homes in the RM of St. Clements at the intersection of Provincial Roads 91 north and 32 east.

“The fire… is moving very, very quickly,” said Brokenhead Coun. Winston Desjarlais. “We’re trying to get ahead of it as quickly as we can. We’ve got some very good staff that are moving and mobilized.”

About 29 homes are under the evacuation notification and the First Nation is planning for a worst-case scenario, including a major evacuation into Winnipeg or Selkirk.

“If we need to get buses, hotels, we’re trying to formulate everything as we go,” Desjarlais said.

After the initial fire sparked in the Netley-Libau Marsh Sunday night, south winds blew the fire eastward and the flames jumped from the marsh to grasslands, according to RM of St. Clements CAO Deepak Joshi.

“As far as I can tell, these are fairly significant flames that have sort of built up, so we’re at it,” Joshi said. “We couldn’t get to it at first, so it had the chance to spread.”

The Netley-Libau Marsh, approximately 56 kilometres north of Winnipeg, is a 22,000-hectare area at the base of Lake Winnipeg. It is considered a vital migratory corridor for birds.

The size of the blaze was unknown as of Monday afternoon.

“We’re trying to get ahead of it as quickly as we can. We’ve got some very good staff that are moving and mobilized.”–Brokenhead Coun. Winston Desjarlais

Fire crews from the East Beaches, East Selkirk and Narol departments were battling the flames near the marsh, which Joshi said are between six and 15 metres high at some places.

A water bomber from the province’s wildfire service was also assisting in the fight.

Brokenhead’s Scanterbury Fire Department was on standby as the flames moved eastward toward the First Nation community.

”Hopefully the water bombers can manage it before it really impacts any residential properties or any lake properties,” Joshi said.

North of the community, in cottage country, a separate fire prompted an emergency evacuation of residents near Bird River.

The RM of Alexander issued an emergency evacuation for residents living between Hill Drive on Provincial Road 315 and the Bird River Bridge, approximately 150 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

The fire is holding north of the provincial road but if the wind direction changes it could threaten the community, according to CAO Gisele Smith.

Residents were directed to the evacuation center at the Great Falls Community Hall.

Smoke from wildfires causing poor visibility shuttered several highways, including Highway 315 from Bird River to the junction of Highway 314, the junction of highways 315 and 313, as well as Highway 314 from the junction of Highway 315 and Highway 304.

In all, the province listed 20 fires as out of control, under control, monitored or held Sunday. The cause of every fire was listed as “human.”

The province has tracked 72 wildfires in 2025, compared to the 47 fires it tracked at the same time in 2024.

Elsewhere in the Interlake, a lightning strike sparked a grass fire dangerously close to a newly renovated building at Oak Hammock Marsh Sunday night.

“I can look outside the window and see a large swath of charred grass right where it happened,” Jacques Bourgeois, marketing and communications co-ordinator at the non-profit site north of Winnipeg, said Monday.

The flames ignited about 100 meters from the preserve’s rebuilt wetland discovery centre. A grand opening for the centre is scheduled for May 24.

Bourgeois believes lightning struck grass in the nature preserve at about 8 p.m. and the flames quickly spread. A staff member noticed the fire and called the fire department.

“Lucky for us, I guess the wind helped, and it moved to the north, so it didn’t come too, too close to the building, but it was a little too close for comfort,” Bourgeois said.

The fire was out by 11:45 p.m. No injuries or damage to property were reported, Bourgeois said.

Elsewhere in Manitoba, an out-of-control wildfire near The Pas is showing signs of improvement but still remains out of control.

Rural Municipality of Kelsey emergency co-ordinator Lori Forbes said the area “feels a little better” but the battle is far from over.

“That fire is still burning. You could see smoke in the valley still,” she said Monday morning.

Forbes and other officials met with the province’s wildfire service to get the latest information on the fire, which had progressed northwest due to gusting winds.

About 265 residents — including Forbes — have been evacuated from the area. Residents from the community of Wanless and Rocky Lake North Shore have been given the green light to go back to their homes.

A crew of firefighters from British Columbia arrived in the area Monday morning and received a briefing before heading out to tackle the 20,000-hectare blaze.

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Forbes commended the crews working in the region amid the dry, windy conditions.

“It’s really been a partnership with so many different authorities and levels of government. It’s pretty amazing,” she said.

During a house committee meeting Monday, Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie urged Manitobans to be more vigilant during wildfire season and commended the work of fire crews battling blazes across the province, including the B.C. crew.

“It is proof we are all in this together,” he said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.